DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

    Trumpets blare, women weep and a giddy crowd roars as burly men carrying towering wooden pillars charge through narrow streets in a medieval tradition of pride and devotion to their patron saint.     For more than 800 years, the ancient central Italian town of Gubbio has erupted in a riot of yellow, blue and black each May for the " Festa dei Ceri"  ( Festival of the  Candles) to honor patron saint  Ubaldo Baldassini , a 12th century bishop. one of the teams grimacing with the heavy candle     In a day filled with feverish festivities that include hurling jugs of water onto a crowd, the highlight is a strenuous race where three teams tear through the town and up a mountain with 400-kg wooden pillars balanced on their shoulders.     The festival taps into a deep-rooted sense of local pride and tradition -- the sort of fierce identity tied to their town or region that Italians are famous for. Gubbio's residents -- known as " Eugubini"  -- s

    I want to bring up some alternate methods of thought, that the best way to survive the zombie apocalypse is to stay mobile and not hunker down in a single place. Here's why that it might be true. A Zombie Apocalypse Isn't Siege Warfare     Zombie survivalists like to make a parallel between fending off zombies and medieval forms of siege warfare. At first glance, it's easy to see why they might make that comparison: you have an overwhelming mass of combatants outside your gates, but within a well-stocked stronghold, a small number of defenders can hold off almost indefinitely.     The problem with this idea is that surviving a siege puts faith in the idea that your attackers will eventually get bored or be incapable of feeding or otherwise supplying themselves and will soon stop attacking you.     We can't assume those things of zombies. Zombies don't get bored. Zombies are always hungry, but hunger won't stop them. They&

    Is it called  Memorial Day or  Decoration Day?      Many people, especially those in the south, ask themselves this question every year. Compounding the confusion is the fact that both celebrations are often held on the same weekend in May. Most of us have participated in Memorial Day celebrations. I've had the experience of participating in several Decoration Day celebrations as well. According to  History.com  Memorial Day was first celebrated as Decoration Day. This day first happened officially a few years after the Civil Warn ended on May 30, 1868.     General John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic is widely credited for the original proclamation. This held great importance even though the Grand Army of the Republic was a group of former soldiers and sailors and not a governmental organization. President    Richard Nixon  officially declared Memorial Day to be a federal holiday in 1971. It is held on the last Monday in May as a remembrance of t